Blog Post #2

1. To me the message of the video Mr. Dancealot is to show people how bad a teacher can be. Depending on what a student is being taught they need to do hands on stuff and not just listen to a teacher lecture. The author makes his case by showing in the end that none of the students knew how to dance. The students did not know how to dance because the teacher never worked with them on it. I agree with the author on showing us how this is not a good method. As far as the teacher goes I think he did a horrible job and was not thinking about what was best for his students.

2. Robert thinks that in the 21st century everything is going technological. By this I mean that students can get all the information they need on the internet anytime they want to get it.
Outline: Technology Learning
A. Engaging Students
1. Let kids be active
2. Let kids learn
3. Solving Problems
B. Learning
1. Ask hard questions
2. Make kids have
3. Multi-media
I think that over the years teaching and technology will always change. We are a society that keeps on moving and progressing forward. We will always have the next new big thing. I don't think it will change too drastically in my life time but I will be excited what's different within the next fifty years. If Robert is correct we will still need teachers but are job won't be the same as it is today. There will probably be less teachers because they will be able to have more students at one time since most will be on a computer.


3. My reaction to this video was that I don't think it is entirely correct. Sure I think the internet is a good source of finding information but I don't think it helps you learn the same way as a teacher does. I think we as people are already isolating ourselves more and more from one another. People learn in all different ways. Some may do good with technology learning while others do better if someone says everything out loud to them. I also think that it will make people dislike facebook, twitter, and all other resources more because it will be demanded instead of a leisure.

4. The thesis of Mrs. Davis's video is how to teach students about new software. I was kind of baffled by this video. I think Mrs. Davis was right about some things like teachers not knowing everything and sometimes students need to learn things on their own. I didn't understand the point of her class though. Like what the students were supposed to be doing with the avatars. To me this would be a fun class for students to choose as an elective. I think a computer class about how to make websites and stuff like that would be more beneficial to students.

5. Who is ahead in the learning race you ask? Well I think it depends on how you take the question. I think undergraduates are a little bit at a disadvantage. We all know people don't like change and yet everyone wants to go technology based learning. It's going to be harder to teach undergraduates because it is something new in are world and their has been nothing this advanced so it is a little hard to learn with being older. I also think younger kids are more eager to learn and they have not learned any other way so that's all they will know. An example: my mom went to the doctor awhile back and a young child came up to a magazine but instead of opening it he or she kept running his or her finger over it like an ipad. Are these kids now a days so confined to technology that they don't know how to open up a book? Another example I will give is how easy is it for a younger kid to learn a foreign language compared to an adult? Kids are just now learning everything for the first time so it is a lot easier to teach the first go around then to wait until the brain has developed and then teach something new.

6. Yes, flipping the classroom is new to me. I think it is a good idea and can be useful because I think it will allow the teachers to cover a little more in class if the students already know a little bit about what they are going over. However, I do feel it will be hard to self motivate some students to do this. You are always going to have over achievers and slackers. As a teacher you will have to find a good way to make sure all kids love what they are being taught so they will learn.

7. I think you can bring in group work from the locker room. As in sports everyone is on the same team and everyone is working towards the same goal. Some people are better at certain things then others but that's why you work as a team and use each others strong points. As an example when we re-took the syllabus test as a group in class the other day we all said what we thought the right answer was first. If someone had a different answer we would talk, discuss, and debate why we though are answer was right. In the end our group scored a 40 out of 40. So I think group work can be very effective when everyone wants the same goals.





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